Annual Doom
by anonymousclarinet22
Summary: “Haven’t you noticed bad things tend to happen about this time of year?” Tony, Ziva, and McGee realize that the most traumatic events that happen to them almost always seem to occur in May.


Annual Doom

It was May of 2013. Spring had arrived in Washington DC, and the trees were covered in green leaves once again. The MCRT sat at their desks in the bullpen, minus their boss, who had left, presumably to get some of his infamous black coffee.

"Haven't you noticed bad things tend to happen about this time of year?" Tony commented to his teammates, pushing a stack of papers aside to deal with later.

"What do you mean, Tony?" Ziva asked teasingly, looking up from her paperwork. "Don't tell me you're becoming superstitious."

"No, it's just…" the senior field agent trailed off. "Well, we were bombed about this time last year."

"May 15, 2012," McGee recalled. "Quite a traumatic day."

"Yes, but something bad is not going to happen just because NCIS was bombed about a year ago," Ziva declared. "Harper Dearing could have struck at any time."

"But then the spring before that, Mike Franks was killed in the Port to Port Killer case," Tony argued, racking his brain. "When was that, exactly?"

"Some time in May 2011," Ziva remembered. "But he was already dying, and the P2P case had been going on for a while. It was a matter of time before he came after one of us," she said, trying to disprove Tony's argument. "Stop trying to scare McGee."

"You mean McScaredy," Tony joked.

"You're the one who brought it up, Tony," McGee replied. "You're the one who seems paranoid."

"Me? Paranoid?" Tony protested, gesturing to himself dramatically. "I have noticed a clear pattern of annual doom occurring in the spring!"

Ziva narrowed her eyes at him. "Because you are paranoid."

"I am not!" Tony defended himself. "Tell me, my ninja, what just exactly what happened three years ago?"

"Three years ago?" Ziva thought for a moment. "That was 2010, when I became an American citizen."

"And what happened about that time?" Tony coaxed, motioning for her to continue.

"You and Gibbs were in Mexico during my citizenship ceremony," she reminded him.

"Which was just after Gibbs was kidnapped by the Reynosa Cartel!" Tony finished triumphantly.

Ziva rolled her eyes. "That still does not prove anything."

"But wait, there's more! I have much more evidence to present to you, Zee-vah. Let's see," said Tony, arguing mostly just for the sake of arguing with her. "The summer before that was 2009, when…" Tony trailed off, looking at his partner. "Well, what happened that May led to a truly awful summer." Tony tactfully avoided saying "Rivkin" or "Somalia," much to the relief of their Israeli coworker.

"What happened the year before that?" McGee asked, becoming increasingly interested in the surprisingly solid case Tony was building.

"That would have been…2008, yes?" Ziva replied. "That was when Jenny died, in May of that year."

"And we got split up," Tony groaned, "and I was stuck on a ship as Agent Afloat." He scowled at the memory of that miserable period. "And then I almost got blown up in 2007 by La Grenouille, and everyone thought I was dead."

"And the year before that was 2006. Wasn't that when Gibbs got blown up, was in a coma, had amnesia, and quit, uh, I mean, went on hiatus?" McGee amended quickly, scanning the bullpen for their boss and a potentially oncoming headslap.

"Yes," Ziva confirmed, abandoning her argument against Tony's theory. "That was also in May."

"Kate was killed on May 25 of 2005," said Tony, glancing at Ziva, who seemed uncomfortable at the mention of what her half-brother had done.

"She and Ducky were kidnapped the previous year by Ari—uh, I mean, by the, uh, person who kidnapped them—in May, I think," said McGee awkwardly. "Anything before that was before my time."

"I wonder what's going to happen this year," Tony said, gazing at the people who meant so much more to him than just coworkers. "It is May, after all."

"We already caught Bodnar," said Ziva, "and none of us ended up dead, injured—" she was interrupted by a skeptical look from Tony. "Okay, fine. None of us ended up dead, critically injured, kidnapped, blown up, no longer on the team, thought to be dead, on the run, or stuck in an elevator. Everything is fine."

"Not everything," Tony deadpanned. "For example, my car insurance agent is giving me serious mental trauma."

"You already have serious mental trauma," Ziva shot back.

"Maybe it's just a coincidence," McGee suggested half-heartedly. The three agents glanced at each other skeptically. None of them believed coincidences after working with Gibbs for so long.

"Rule 39, McGee," Gibbs corrected as he entered the bullpen with a cup of coffee in his hand, with perfect timing, as always.

"Right, boss," the agent replied. "No coincidences. Oh, boss?"

"Yes, McGee?" Gibbs prompted impatiently.

"I analyzed the photos taken on the stolen cell phone and the photos were taken in northwest DC," McGee informed him.

Gibbs stared back at him. "What are you waiting for? Go!" The junior field agent jumped out of his chair and followed Tony to the elevator.

"Have fun on your stakeout," Ziva smirked.

As they were about to enter the elevator, Director Vance appeared at the top of the staircase, followed by a man they hadn't seen before. "Agents DiNozzo and McGee," he called. The two agents in question turned around looked up at the Director. "This is IG investigator Parsons. He'll be joining you on your stakeout to ask you a few questions." The inspector smiled a fake smile and followed them into the elevator.

Their annual doom was approaching.

Rule 39: There is no such thing as a coincidence.

AN: Thank you for reading! Please review and give feedback so I can improve my writing.


End file.
